The personal struggles of federal employees and other ill effects of the government shutdown are mounting, and will worsen when workers miss their second biweekly paycheck on Friday.
We're 33 days into the impasse created by President Donald Trump over border wall funding. And it's clear that only serious negotiations, with concessions by both sides, will end the impasse. It's time to stop this high-stakes chess match with real humans as the pawns. On Tuesday, Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that competing bills will be brought to votes in the Senate on Thursday. One largely reflects Trump's weekend offer of more protections for some immigrants in exchange for $5.7 billion in wall funding. The other would fund the government until Feb. 8 to allow further negotiations. As things stand, neither is likely to make it to Trump's desk.
Similarly, a House bill including Speaker Nancy Pelosi's new proposal for another $1.1 billion, on top of $1.3 billion already allocated for border security, to pay for 75 desperately needed immigration judges and more infrastructure at border ports of entry, probably will die in the Senate.
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